Nick Fury: Agent of Cauldron
by AllRoadsLeadTo
Summary: An alien monstrosity with the intent of using and then eradicating all life on Earth crash landed on a mountain side, allowing a young girl named Fortuna and a hard veteran of espionage by the name of Nick Fury to kill it. However, it had a partner and now they must build an organization, Cauldron, to prepare for the coming battle to save the Earth.
1. Chapter 1

_**Nick Fury: Agent of Cauldron (Worm AU/Marvel)**_

_**Part 1**_

A/N: This is a collection of snips in roughly chronological order from multiverse where Nick Fury takes the place of Doctor Mother and founds and runs Cauldron. Earth Bet looks very different as a result. After all Captain America, World War 2 veteran or not, isn't about to stand for Nazis taking over anywhere.

The Marvel characters within will take more after their movie versions than the comic versions where applicable. This means that Nick Fury looks like Samuel L. Jackson's more badass interdimensional doppelganger.

+NF: AoC+

Fortuna stared down at the dead Entity. A hand clasped her shoulder. "It'll be okay kid," the man said in Spanish, her native language. He had dark skin, short hair, he wore a blue shirt, dark pants and a black long coat, and one eye was covered by an eyepatch. "We'll win."

She nodded. She had done as best she could to copy as much of the path to defeating the second entity as she could, and was taking a moment to wait as the man who would be instrumental to the survival of humanity began the project to build an army for them.

"Your power is very useful, but you're just a kid," the man continued after a while. "I can get this started without your constant assistance, so I'm sending you to school."

Following the current path she was using, she turned to the tall man and replied in accented English, "I don't need to go to school."

"Yes you do," he replied, his voice brooking no dissent. "You can't spend your whole life mindlessly following your power, because that isn't living. Your power can help you answer pretty much any question, but it can't help you ask the right ones. This project will take years, decades even, and you don't need to be present for every second of it. You're going to school, you're going to make friends, and you won't use your power to cheat. I'll know if you do."

Fortuna asked her power, and frowned at the answer. "How?" she asked him, confused.

Nick Fury smiled at her knowingly.

+NF: AoC+

Fortuna walked into the classroom. She wasn't nervous exactly, but Mister Fury had told her that she should make friends and go to school without using her power. She trusted him, and liked him. He cared about her and believed in her, so she had promised herself that she would do her best to live up to his expectations without relying on her power too much. After all, it wasn't really cheating to know how to get to the right class without having to look at a map or a schedule, was it?

She walked through the classroom and sat down next to a girl her age. She wasn't going to use her power to make friends, per say, but there wasn't anything wrong with using that power to point her towards people who would be good friend material.

"Hello," Fortuna said in the heavily accented English that she had painstakingly learned in school. "I am Fortuna. Who are you?"

The girl gave her a friendly smile and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Annette. It's nice to meet you." Fortuna used her power and elegantly shook Annette's hand, feeling slightly guilty for using her power in such a mundane way. She just knew Mister Fury would know. "So are you the exchange student I've heard about?" Annette asked.

Fortuna paused and parsed the English sentence in her head, before replying, "Yes, I am the exchange student. I am new to America."

Annette's smile brightened. "Well, in that case how about I help show you what it's like here?"

Fortuna smiled. "I would like that, thank you."

+NF: AoC+

Fortuna walked along the street beside her caretaker, Agent Coulson. He was just out of college but had apparently been handpicked by Nick Fury to watch over her, not that she really needed it. In fact, while she appreciated the company, a small part of her grated at having a babysitter while Mister Fury was working on saving the world.

"How was your first day in school here in America?" he asked her in Spanish.

"It was good," she replied in halting English. "I made a friend."

Coulson smiled at her. "That's good to hear Fortuna, and good news deserves ice cream."

She replied with her own genuine smile. Maybe having Coulson follow her around and going to school in America wouldn't be too bad.

+NF: AoC+

Nick Fury looked at the man before him. "Are you sure this will work?"

Doctor Abraham Erskine nodded. "We believe so, but there are risks, which is why I'm volunteering."

Nick Fury raised an eyebrow. "And what," he said, "would we do if something went wrong?"

Dr. Erskine sheepishly shrugged. "I just think that it should be someone who understands what they're getting in to."

Nick Fury nodded. "I understand. I want you to prepare a batch, but don't let anyone try it. I'll find us people to test it on."

+NF: AoC+

United States Army Lieutenant General Chester Phillips walked into his office and stopped at the sight of someone sitting in his chair with it facing away from him and towards the window behind his desk. He couldn't tell who it was, so General Phillips cautiously approached with a hand on his sidearm.

Before he could take more than a step or say anything, the chair turned toward him, revealing a familiar face. "Hello Chester," Nick Fury said.

Chester Phillips shook his head ruefully. "I should have known an old spook like you couldn't stay dead."

Nick Fury let himself smile slightly. "You know me, Chester. I just never got the hang of it."

Chester barked out a laugh and made his way to the cabinet he kept a bottle of liquor. "Alright Nick, what do want?"

"I've come into possession of something you might be interested in," Nick replied as he placed a folder on the desk. "But it comes with some strings attached."

Chester took out the liquor, a bottle of nice bourbon, and two glasses. "Care to elaborate, or are you just going to keep being cryptic?"

Nick leaned back as Chester walked over to take the seat in front his desk. "My people have a super serum, it should work, but it's dangerous and we need test subjects who can be trusted."

"Really?" Chester asked skeptically as he set down the glasses and opened the bottle.

Nick gestured to the folder. "Read it, but eyes only. This is need to know."

Chester nodded and poured each of them a finger of bourbon before opening the folder and carefully reading the contents. As he progressed, his frown deepened and he downed his glass in one gulp before pouring himself another. "And this is all correct?"

"Yes," Nick told his old friend.

Chester swirled his glass contemplatively while Nick sipped his own. "Then I think I have someone for you," he finally said. "He's only barely physically fit for duty, but he's as determined and dedicated as they come. If this serum works, then then his physical issues should be a problem for you and he'll be reliable." He looked through the folder again before tapping an alias. "This Contessa, she can't help with this?" he asked.

"Her powers don't work on the Entities or on the results of using the formulas," Nick Fury explained. "The one we killed, Eden, apparently modified her power to keep her from doing the same to the other one."

"Damn," Chester muttered. He was quiet for a moment before nodding to himself. "Then I think there's another lad I can send you, a sharp man by the name of Bruce Banner. If these 'Entities' use dimensional powers to do this stuff like your boys theorize, he'll be as good a help in figuring this out as anyone. I'll get you their files."

"Thank you, Chester," Nick replied.

"No problem, Nick. Just keep me in the loop on this. Even if we can't do much for the other Entity right now, some supers like form the comics could do this country, this world even, a lot of good."

"Will do," Nick said as he stood up and shook hands with Chester Phillips.

+NF: AoC+

Steven Rogers lay back against the gurney he had been strapped too while Doctors Banner and Erskine made the final preparations.

"Ready?" General Phillips asked him from the balcony above.

"As I'll ever be, sir," the thin Lieutenant replied. "Still waiting for that promotion though."

General Phillips laughed. "Alright, son. If you survive this, I'll make you a captain."

"I'll hold you too that, sir," Steven replied.

Doctor Erskine finished attaching EKG transmitters and the like to Steven and told him, "We're good to start."

Doctor Banner held up his thumb from beside the monitor machines. "We're prepped on this end. All systems ready to go."

Steven nodded, or tried too since his head had been strapped into place. "Let's get this show on the road then."

Doctor Erskine nodded. "Alright, open your mouth and swallow when I've poured this all in."

"I'm not that kind of guy, Doc," Steven joked, causing the others present to chuckle before Erskine held to glowing vial to his mouth. Steven obediently opened his mouth and fought down his gag reflex as the foul tasting serum was poured in. Only his sheer determination kept him from spitting the vile concoction out, and once Doctor Erskine had finished pouring had swallowed as fast as possible.

The next thing he knew, his body was on fire as muscle and bone shifted and grew. The scientists watched din alarmed fascination has his body grew and strained against the straps holding him down. "Get me out!" Steven cried out, pushing them into action. Doctor Erskine hurriedly undid the straps that were now biting deep into Steven's flesh, but some of them wouldn't come undone. Steven cried out and heaved with all of his desperate strength, breaking free of the remaining straps. He sat up on the gurney, heaving for breath as the pain quickly faded.

He looked up when he heard General Philips whistle. "I'll admit, I was still skeptical, but seeing this? I believe," General Philips said to Director Fury of Cauldron, the secret project of which Steven was now a successful test subject of.

Steven looked down at his body, momentarily taken aback by how much he had grown in muscle and mass. Simply put, he was huge. His mind raced and with some rapid mental calculations he realized that he had not only grown what must have been his previous body weight in muscle and bone, but he had grown two feet and three inches taller as well. Then he was taken aback be how quickly he realized that.

"I'm a believer too, sir," he finally said. "At least I'll look dashing with those captain's epaulets." Director Fury smiled on the balcony and General Phillips laughed.

"That you will," General Phillips agreed merrily. "Once you get yourself some new clothes, or don't, you'll have the ladies all over you."

Steven blushed and covered himself, now that his torn clothes no longer did that with his suddenly large, muscular frame.

+NF: AoC+

Contessa walked into the break room containing the three lead researchers of Cauldron, Doctors Erskine, Banner and Manton. She had come back from school in order to ensure the smooth operation of Cauldron and her precognition had led her here.

"What you're proposing is wrong," Erskine informed Banner. "There are better ways to test this."

"We need results," Manton replied. "Tinkers can provide us with the technical expertise that we can't get ourselves and if it isn't someone in the know, we need an intelligent person we can trust to do this right and is a part of Cauldron."

"Tinkers?" Contessa asked.

Doctor Banner turned to her. "Ah, Fortuna. It's good to see you again. And yes, Tinkers are what we're labeling the prospective power category of the genius inventor capable of inventing super science devices. If we had someone with that kind of power to help us, it would make getting past these technical barriers much easier. There's only so much we can do with modern technology, and with the issue of the Agents' memory blocks it needs to be someone already part of the project. We can't just contract this out to a natural Tinker, if one ever appears."

Contessa nodded in understanding. "I will find someone suitable."

"Thank you," Manton said to Contessa, who smiled in response.

"It's not hard for me, and this is important," she replied.

"We still appreciated it," Banner told her.

"In that case, you're welcome," she said. She then looked at Manton. "Was there anything else?"

He shifted uneasily before straightening. "Yes, I've been looking into the regenerative effects of taking vials and was wondering if we could look into that further, perhaps exploit that."

"It seems reasonable, and Director Fury is updating the approval process. Anyone here is free to apply for themselves or apply on behalf of someone they believe they can trust."

"Of course," Manton replied.

"Is that all?" Contessa asked. "I should get going."

Erskine waved her off. "Don't worry, we know you're busy with hat power of yours. Us old men have plenty to bicker about to keep us occupied."

Contessa said her good byes and departed.

+NF: AoC+

Tony Stark, formerly dying playboy entrepreneur and now parahuman playboy entrepreneur looked up at the sound of his lab door opening. This wasn't his lab in his California mansion, but rather the Cauldron lab where he kept all of the 'good stuff,' like the interdimensional transporter he was currently working on.

Walking in like he owned the place, which he actually did, was Nick Fury, Tony's boss in saving the world. "Generalissimo," Tony said by way of greeting.

"How are things going, Tony?" Fury asked Tony. Fury walked up to the half assembled armor that Tony had abandoned halfway through in order to work on an idea that had come to his mind while he was in the middle of working on it.

"I've been thinking," Tony remarked as he returned to fitting a coupling into place on the device.

"About?" Fury asked as he carefully made his way over through the clutter of Tony's workshop, brushing through the holographic displays Tony had left up for reference.

"That power issue, with our powers," Tony said and he switched tools. "David said he noticed he couldn't get back a few of the powers he released, and that set me thinking."

"Oh?"

"Well, if Eden's dead, where is all of the energy the Agents must be using to give us powers coming from?" Tony asked as he returned to his project.

Fury nodded. "Doctor Banner theorized that the supply is finite," he said. He looked at Tony inquisitively. "Do you have a solution?"

Tony shrugged. "Not sure. The power consumption must be huge, and if what Manty's suggested is right then this might not help, buuuuuut…" Tony turned to face Director Fury. "…I think that with dimensional tech like this and some energy oriented stuff I might be able to rig up a suit with an Arc Reactor to help with that."

"You can do this?" Director Fury asked.

Tony smirked. "Of course I can, I'm me." He reluctantly paused, his smirk fading slightly. "But, it'll take me a while. This is a big project on top of everything else and it involves stuff even my power isn't great at. If you could get me some help, that'd be great, but I know how erratic the serum can be."

Director Fury pursed his lips in thought. "Doctor Banner mentioned an experiment that might prove promising, but I'll ask Fortuna if she can recruit someone to help with dimensional technology and energy transfers. They won't be immune to memory blocks, but hopefully they'll be able to help you with your projects."

Tony nodded. "Thanks, Generalissimo. This baby should be good to go in a week, two tops."

Fury nodded. "Keep up the good work, Tony." With that, he turned and left Tony to his work. "And don't pass out in Lincoln's lap again."

+NF: AoC+

Rebecca walked with her recruiter, Agent Coulson, out into the test course. It was a large, wide open complex on an alternate Earth. It was an obstacle course and firing range which to Rebecca's enhanced eyes was filled with wires, trip mines and large objects for those with super strength to lift and even throw. She could tell with a glance that it would be a deathtrap for anyone without powers unless they had years of training and experience.

"Here we go, this is our training course," Agent Coulson explained. "It's been designed and built in part by our lead Tinker, Hero, also known Tony Stark, the owner of Stark Industries, a lead military and general technology company. He took special care to make sure that this course could test any conceivable power type and help our recruits learn to use their abilities to the fullest. It's divided into sections, this closest area is section zero with no traps or tricks, but beyond that things get increasingly dangerous. I don't think it'll be a problem with your power set, if you go to sections four and beyond there will be nonlethal traps mixed together with live fire mines and even some automated turrets to make things interesting."

Another person walked towards them. Rebecca turned to take him in. He wore an armored uniform colored dark blue with white and red trim and he had a military style helmet with a visor in his left hand and an assault rifle in his right hand. His eyes were a piercing icy blue, his hair was blond, and despite the armor he wore it was clear that he was large and muscular. He smiled at her and waved with his hand holding the helmet as he approached. "Hello, I see Coulson is giving you the tour. You new here?"

Rebecca smiled back. "Yes, I just took the serum this morning."

When he reach the other two, the man put his rifle under his left arm and held out his now free hand. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, well, Major now."

Rebecca took his hand, her newfound powers of analysis telling her that he was an honest, earnest man. "It's good to meet you. I'm Rebecca, and I don't have a 'Cape name' yet, but I'm considering my options."

Even though she was now invincible, she could tell Steve had a firm grip. "I think it's a good idea to take care with what you choose. What were you thinking of?"

"Well, I'm invincible, super-strong, super-fast, I can fly, I have the ability to analyze extremely quickly, and I also seem to have flawless memory now."

Steve hummed thoughtfully. "What names were you considering, because I think Superwoman could fit."

Rebecca shook her head. "No, I'm not going to ape some comic book character. That's just asking for trouble, and lawsuits."

Steve nodded. "True…. Well, in that case how about something related to your memory?"

"Such as a reference to the Library of Alexandria where vast stores of now priceless knowledge were stored?" Coulson suggested.

Rebecca smiled. "That's a good idea actually. Library of Alexandria. Mind if I steal it?"

"Not at all, just keep in mind that they're either going to call you Librarian or Alexandria to shorten the name."

"Sounds good to me," Steve added.

"Good," Rebecca replied.

+NF: AoC+

Fury walked across the stark white room towards where Bruce Banner sat in a reclined seat. "Are you sure about this?" Fury asked him. "This is your last chance to back out in case something goes wrong."

"I know, sir," Bruce replied. "But we need more tinkers and tinkers, and this could give us the edge we need. I know the risks."

Nick Fury patted him on the shoulder. "Good luck, Doctor Banner."

"Thank you, sir," Bruce replied before taking the vial in his hand. He drew in a deep breath as Director Fury backed away and his coworkers watched in trepidation next to various heroes, including Hero, who had been recruited by Cauldron. Hopefully they would help shape the form his power took in the direction desired. They needed something, anything to help them fight Scion. He quickly downed the vial.

He choked on the formula and fell to the floor. When he hit the floor, pain shot through his body before fading as his body shifted and grew and his vision became tinged with green.

"Room temperature dropping," he heard a voice, Erskine, say. Annoyance shot through him and he swept his hand at the voice before it suddenly hit something with a crack. He glared at the black and silver that had interposed itself between him and the annoying voice.

"Bruce?" the figure asked.

Bruce growled and pulled back his fist before another puny person stepped in front of him, holding a teddy bear. The young woman in a neat suit squeezed it and then reached out and tickled him. He fell to the ground laughing as his form shrunk.

Bruce came to himself on the floor with his clothes shredded by his shapeshifting.

"That was certainly more eventful than Steven's," Erskine remarked.

"At least I thought to bring a spare uniform with me," the military super replied dryly, causing Bruce and the others to laugh.

"So," Hero finally asked after stopping, "what was that, Fortuna?"

"His power is a transformation triggered by pain and anger," Contessa explained.

"Okay," Hero acknowledged, "then the tickling makes sense, but what's up with the teddy bear?"

Contessa shrugged. "I got it at the Boardwalk with Danny and Anne."

Coulson raised an eyebrow.

"And you too," Contessa added smoothly.

"I should think so, since I'm the one the won it for you, Fortuna," Coulson said.

"Did you get me anything, Coulson?" Hero asked.

"Of course, Tony," Coulson replied before taking out a rubber ball and throwing it at the hero, pegging him in the forehead with it before he could react.

Coulson then turned to Contessa and they high fived as Tony cried out in surprise.

Bruce and the others burst out laughing as Tony rubbed his forehead in annoyance.

+NF: AoC+

The so-called Doctor Haywire and his monstrous alternate version of himself stood across the table of the conference room from the notorious Director Nick Fury, apparently bland man in a suit, and a woman in an impeccably neat light grey pinstriped suit with a matching light grey fedora set at a stylish angle upon her head.

"You are aware of everything your alternate version has seen and heard," Director Fury stated.

"Since I gained my powers, yes," the interdimensional tinker replied. His alternate shifted uncomfortably.

Nick Fury narrowed his eye. "What do you intend to do now?"

"The thing you're afraid of, the one you believe is going to destroy the world…it's Scion, isn't it?"

"Yes," Fury confirmed. "He is powerful, but we're doing what we can to prepare ourselves and the world, all versions of it."

"You turned him into a monster…" the tinker started.

"I volunteered," his alternate replied in a rough, inhuman voice. "I understood the risks."

"…and you've treated him well," the tinker concluded. "If this as big as he says," he said gesturing to his alternate, "then you need all the help you can get."

"We do," Nick Fury said, nodding in acknowledgement.

"Then…I'm willing to discuss working with you."

"Glad to hear it," Fury said. "I'm afraid I am busy though, would you mind if you negotiated terms with Contessa here?"

"Not at all."

"Then I'll speak with you later," Nick Fury said before nodding to the others and departing with the other man.

The woman, Contessa, stepped forward.

+NF: AoC+

Nick Fury looked at David, and despite his lack of powers, it was not he who flinched but the hero Eidolon. "Get some damn therapy."

"Sir -" Eidolon began.

"Rebecca, slap him," Fury ordered. Alexandria, standing next to them, casually slapped Eidolon with a slight smirk on her face.

"What was that for!?" David demanded.

"You're reckless, trying to prove yourself. I don't need that on this team, I need people committed to saving the world, not showing off," Nick Fury explained harshly. "Get it together, and don't make me have you slapped again."

Rebecca chuckled at David's consternation.

"And you," Fury said, whirling on Rebecca, "you're a public hero, learn how to talk to the public, don't just lean on your thinker powers. They just make you dumb." Alexandria opened her mouth to object, but Nick looked to his side, and Tony followed his silent order.

Pulling out a collapsible rubber fish, Hero slapped Alexandria. Hero then turned back to Fury and nodded. "Generalissimo."

"Tony," Nick Fury continued, causing Tony to flinch slightly in reaction, "stop drinking so damn much."

Tony opened his mouth, before wisely closing it.

"What about him?" Eidolon unwisely asked Nick as he pointed to the currently costumed Legend.

Nick Fury silently _looked_ at David for a long moment until David looked away. Then Nick turned to Legend, who was watching with apprehension. "He's okay."

Legend sighed with relief as Alexandria made to object and Hero laughed.

+NF: AoC+

David sighed as he walked down the hallways of the Cauldron base. Perhaps he had been reckless a time or two, but did that really justify Director Fury's harsh reaction? He had been banned from field duty for a month. A month! It was ridiculous.

"David," he heard Agent Coulson call out from behind him.

He turned around, trying to suppress his annoyance because it wouldn't help him. "Coulson?"

"Do you know what makes a great man?" Coulson asked as he casually walked up to David.

David frowned in thought. "The legacy he leaves behind," he finally answered, "how he changes to world."

Agent Coulson nodded. "That certainly plays a part, but what about people like Mao? Are they great?"

"What are you getting at?" David asked, knowing he was being led even without a thinker power active.

"I'm saying that anyone can have a legacy," Coulson said. "What makes a great man different from an influential or important man, is that he is also a good man. He's someone that inspires others, whether it's to be like him or to go out and do something else. The reason people adored comic book superheroes like Superman is because they were someone to inspire you, someone you could aspire to be like, an ideal. For all their flaws, characters like Batman and Superman are icons as much as they are people. They encouraged people to be more than they are, more than they could otherwise be.

"With parahumans becoming more and more common, we're losing sight of that ideal. People aren't like that, they aren't icons, they aren't symbols. We're building an army, but how can we lead, how can we inspire people to fight when all they've got is spit and grit to fight with, if we don't have symbols to rally them, not to push them beyond their limits, but to inspire them beyond? Superman isn't a symbol of hope because of the battles he fought, he was an symbol because of how he lived his life to help others. We don't have that, just people ready to fight the battles they need to, or want to. They aren't symbols, because battles aren't what make people symbols. They aren't what create ideas that transcend a life or book, that give people hope. Look in the sky at night and you'll see the moon, and on it is the lunar lander. Any kid in America, heck, in pretty much any country on Earth, can envision Apollo 11's lunar lander. That's a symbol of hope, of a better future that we can accomplish through human ingenuity and determination. It's a symbol because of what it represents, not just because the struggle to make it happen. That's what we need for our army, not some magic bullet that we may never find, but a symbol to guide and inspire even when all hope seems lost. How can we have hope for the future without a symbol of the future we want?"

After Coulson finished speaking, David couldn't come up with an immediate answer.

Coulson smiled at him and nodded. "Well, I should get going. Good luck, David, and let me know your answer sometime."

David nodded as Coulson departed, deep in thought.

+NF: AoC+

A/N: Let me know what you think. Is this story an idea worth continuing? If so, is there anything in particular you'd like to see?

+NF: AoC+


	2. Chapter 2

_**Part 2**_

+NF: AoC+

A/N: So I've checked some things and I've changed Danny's name for Hannah. Guess why.

Also, can you spot the cameos and references?

+NF: AoC+

Tony Stark walked through the hallways of the Cauldron base. Unlike SHEILD's blue and black coloring with white trim, Director Fury had decided to make a bold departure in the coloring of this new base by using completely the original color scheme of white and blue with black trim. He found it simply amazing.

He was currently wearing a polo shirt and slacks as he made his way to the custom lounge he'd set up when it became clear that this new base would be where he'd end up doing most of his super science tinkering. Swirling the glass of bourbon in his hand he smiled. He had big plans, and with Haywire and Contessa's help it was sure to work.

Tony chuckled as he walked up to the door of the lounge and its custom built sensor opened for him.

The sight inside caused him to freeze in place. Inside, sitting on one of his imported couches was Fortuna in armored suit along with a young dark skinned girl in blue body armor with a star outlined on it and with an American flag patterned scarf loosely hanging from her neck.

If the glass hadn't been holding liquor, he would have dropped it as an expression of horror dawned on his face. "Oh god, there's two of them. _He multiplied_."

"Sir?" the girl asked questioningly, her accent strong.

Fortuna tilted her head and then giggled. At the other girl's questioning look she explained, "He thinks you're like Captain America."

The girl smiled and nodded before looking at Tony. "He is my…mentor." She looked at Fortuna who nodded encouragingly. "I want to be hero like him."

"How like him are you going to be?" Tony asked in shocked worry. "I can only withstand so much boundless optimism and basic decency before I get sick."

"Don't worry Tony," Fortuna said with a smile, "if your alcoholism is any indication, you'll develop a tolerance."

+NF: AoC+

"Oh, come on," Annette protested, "you used your power to cheat didn't you?"

Fortuna shrugged as she effortlessly caught the basketball that Hannah passed her.

"Annette is right, you could not possibly do it," Hannah agreed in her heavily accented and hesitant English as green-black energy crackled into various shapes at her waist.

Fortuna smiled and replied like how Tony would want her too, "_You_ might not be able to make the shot…" She bounced the ball once by her side before letting it rest in her hands and she readied herself and then threw the ball in an arc towards the other side of the court. The ball bounced once on the hoop before rolling around on it and then falling in. "…but I have game."

"The game of a cheater," Hannah retorted before picking up another basketball and walking towards Fotruna, who stepped aside to let Hannah take her place. Hannah frowned for a moment before shifting her stance and launching the ball into the air. They watched in silence before the ball bounced off of the back and front of the inside of the hoop before bouncing off of the backboard before falling back through the hoop. "I have real game," Hannah declared triumphantly as she turned back to the other two and smirked, a hand on her hip.

Annette scoffed. "This is ridiculous. I've got to stop making friends with super heroes."

"Or you could become one yourself," Fortuna suggested.

Annette looked at her in surprise. "You can do that?" she asked. "I thought it was something that just happened."

"It normally is," Fortuna explained, "but we have ways."

Annette's eyes widened. "Those stories of secret military super serums are true?" she asked incredulously.

"We are not supposed to talk about it," Hannah admonished. "Director Fury told us not too."

"We can trust her," Fortuna objected, "and it'll be fun, the three of us being super heroes together."

Hannah looked between Fortuna and Annette before nodding and smiling. "It will be fun."

+NF: AoC+

Captain America, alias changed back to its original designation so that it wouldn't be affected by further changes in rank, crouched in the undergrowth of the South American jungle. Apparently a parahuman had managed to set himself up as a warlord and was using his ability to shrug off small arms fire to drive out the local government's forces who were unprepared and unequipped to fight a parahuman. When Director Fury, General Phillips and Rebecca Costa-Brown saw this, they knew that it would soon be an all too common occurrence, and that something needed to be done to prevent what appeared to be an inevitable fall of weaker governments without significant support to parahuman rebels and coups. That was why they were working to start a super hero team unaffiliated with the US military, which they had labelled the Protectorate, in order to counteract this threat to stability. As much as they needed an army to fight the remaining Entity, Steven agreed with their and Tony's assessment that a large number of supers simply wasn't enough. And even if it was, Steven couldn't just stand by and let the world slide into chaos. That's just the kind of man he was.

And so he crouched in the undergrowth along with the other SHIELD capes tasked with this mission and watched the rebel convoy, a mixture of vehicles and men on foot, pass by his position. Spread out to either side and behind him were the Green Berets and SEALs that had been assigned the mission. The Army Special Forces had already been stationed nearby for a related operation and had been requisitioned by SHIELD to take down the warlord before he got going. The SEALs had been the group sent with Steven's own "Special Engagements Taskforce" or SET as the military capes under SHIELD had been dubbed. Despite any inter-branch rivalries that the men might have had, they all worked diligently to make sure that the operation went off without a hitch. He knew that Contessa had said that they would succeed in their mission, but Steven was fairly certain that the success was because of their hard work and preparation.

The convoy was headed towards a nearby stronghold for their cartel. While some might want to continue to label them as a drug cartel, the point at which they managed to drive the Colombian army out of a town in a pitched battle was the point in Steven's mind where they crossed the line from criminal to rebel. As far as they could tell, there was a pyrokinetic parahuman and someone sources had labeled a "demon" in this group as well, though they all obeyed the warlord himself apparently.

Steven saw that the convoy was about halfway past his position when he heard the explosion from the mine they had laid farther along the path. Of all of his abilities that had been enhanced to superhuman levels, there were two he valued more than his enhanced strength and speed. The first was his enhanced mind and how he could more easily understand and process information now. The second was his greatly enhanced speed and coordination. That was why he was able to bounce a grenade off of the front of one truck and into the back of the one in front, which happened to be full of startled rebels, while also snapping of bursts into three of the walking rebels before they had a chance to react.

As the rest of his team opened fire as well, he sent another burst into the truck he had bounced the grenade off of, killing the driver and the man in shotgun before they could get out.

He rapidly scanned the convoy that he could, snapping of another two bursts that hit home as he did so. There wasn't any sign of their target yet. However, he did see Warlock's monstrous form shredding and absorbing on of the trucks as nearby rebels stared on in horror and futilely tried to kill him. He heard several rapid cracks of a high powered sniper rifle coming from the direction of the rear of the convoy, likely Thunderbird. He sent out several bursts to force a cluster of rebels into cover before he heard the radio crackle. "Thunderbird here, pyrokinetic neutralized. Over."

There was a shriek of metal as Warlock tore the remains of the engine block out of one of the trucks and started swinging it at nearby rebels like a club, forcing them out into the open where they could be taken down by the Special Forces and SEALs.

Captain America used his radio. "This is Captain. Does anyone have eyes on either of our remaining targets?" Seeing that his area was relatively clear, he sprinted up and dived over the hood of the truck in front of him, coming down hard on the surprised rebel on the other side. In less than a second he was dispatched and Captain America brought up his rifle to fire at several more enemies.

"Captain, this is Clint," his radio crackled as he dove into a roll while firing. "Their leader is fighting Winter Soldier right now. Don't see the other one. Over." Captain America came to his feet as the last of the rebels fell and turned towards the front of the convoy. The gunfire had mostly died down, but it was clear that there was still some fighting towards the head of the convoy, where Winter Soldier had set up.

"Captain to Clint, Confirmed. Over." Steven ran towards the front of the convoy before he heard a burst of gunfire from within the jungle and instantly he was alert. It worried him because it wasn't from one of the weapons that his team had brought. He dove into the undergrowth.

"We've got a shape shifter here! Over!" came over the radio as Americans returned fire. Seeing and hearing the sources of the fighting, Captain America moved to engage.

"Warlock, this is Captain, move to support us. Over," he ordered as he leapt over an overgrown log and slammed into a young looking Hispanic man in a flamboyant purple and green getup. They hit the ground and the man's form went amorphous, skin shifting and flowing. Captain America leapt up and away, leaving behind a fragmentation grenade as the nearby Green Berets ducked behind cover.

The man's form took shape again in time for him to see the grenade and he leapt away, but he didn't get more than a meter before the grenade went off. The detonation would shredded any normal person, and in fact it did shred this super. Unfortunately, he managed to pull most of himself back together before launching pellets at Captain America, who managed to dodge out of the way.

Their impact released some kind of mist, which cause on of the Green Berets to collapse as the others either scrambled away from the cloud or continued to pour fire into the enemy parahuman. Seeing that bullets and even shrapnel from grenades weren't having much of an effect, Captain America reached for the incendiary grenade on his belt.

The super was quicker on the draw, sending a spread of pellets at Captain America before leaping towards the fallen soldier inside the mist cloud. Captain America dodged out of the way as best he could, but there were too many pellets spread too far apart and the explosions they made on contact sent him tumbling away.

Captain America came to his feet to see the super about to touch the fallen soldier as the super's skin started to flow again beneath his torn costume. Steven couldn't let the super do whatever it was he planned with the fallen soldier, but he was too far away, even for him. He rolled to his feet, drawing his pistol and snapping off shots through the jungle into the super's hand as the Captain scooped up the grenade that had fallen beside him.

Just as the super's liquid-like fingers were about to touch the soldier's skin, Warlock burst through the undergrowth and hit the enemy super like the truck he'd just eaten. The enemy super flew into a tree, wires connecting the two shape shifters. Warlock continued to charge as more wires lashed to from him towards the enemy, and the super replied in kind by launching pellets which released hissing acid that Captain America saw visibly eat through Warlock in the half second he watched before tossing the now-primed grenade at the enemy's feet. With only two seconds to spare, Captain America called out, "Grenade!"

Warlock responded by launching the parts of him being eaten by acid at the other shape shifter and wrapping him in Warlock's biotechnological mass before slamming him on top of the incendiary grenade. The grenade went off and the enemy super let out an inhuman shriek as temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun burned him and Warlock's power actively sought to absorb and consume the rest of him.

Seconds later it was done, though Captain America and the others made sure to burn as much of what was left as possible, in case the shape shifter had some way to come back.

+NF: AoC+

Winter Soldier grunted in pain as the Colombian brute punched him _through_ a tree. Already the ground around him was covered in chilly mist as his power worked to absorb nearby heat and convert it into physical improvements and regeneration. His skin was a mixture of icy grey plates and pale white skin as his body repaired itself. He had hoped to be able to go toe to toe with the cartel warlord, but apparently even his enhanced strength and rapid regeneration weren't enough to take on the nearly invincible brute of a man.

Winter Soldier rolled to his feet and ducked under a blow to send a quick jab into a shallow cut, more of a scratch really, on the warlord's upper arm which had been caused by a SEAL with an anti-tank rifle. The jab had its expected effect of nothing as the warlord continued to swear at him in Spanish. Bucky had better things to do than pay attention to him, like avoid getting knocked through another tree, or torn in two like the warlord had done with Bucky's rifle.

He tried to move away, but was hit by a backhand from the warlord, sending him into the ground. '_I just need to buy time,_' Bucky thought to himself as he got to his knees. Unfortunately, he felt an impossibly strong hand grip his head and lift him into the air. '_Crap._'

He hissed as the pressure slowly built while the gunfire from the supporting SEALs picked up dramatically. It seemed that most of the fighting was over except for here. He tried to twist and lash out at the warlord, but the man was too strong and too tough for even his enhanced strength to hurt.

The pain built and his world started to go dark red. He thrashed, unwilling to let some jumped up drug lord kill him. He was a super hero damn it. The pressure and pain continued to grow, but apparently his thrashing managed to get a reaction because the warlord punched him hard in his leg, sending spikes of pain racing across his upper body and neck as his body was send whipping forward while his head was still held by the warlord. For an instant he was sure that his neck was going to snap and he was going to die right there.

When he heard a crack and he was sent tumbling from the last blow he thought he was right, but then he hit the ground and felt pain flare all across his head, arms and torso. His neck wasn't broken at least. Then he tried to stand and realized that he couldn't feel his legs or waist. His spine was broken and he was stuck lying on his back at the feet of a nigh invincible warlord. '_This isn't going to end well._'

As thick frost grew on the overhanging branches he could see above him, he reached for his pistol. It wouldn't really do anything to the warlord, but hopefully it would distract him from the SEALs for a few precious seconds so they could retreat to Warlock, who was probably the only super that could hope tangle with the brute. As he fumbled the pistol out of its holster he tilted his head to look back at the warlord himself. The warlord was moving away from him, firing an AK at someone while the SEALs returned fire as best they could. Amidst the cacophony, Bucky made out another crack.

Bucky couldn't let him get anywhere near anyone else, so he used his free hand to roll himself over despite the pain. He grit is teeth but took the pistol in both hands and aimed it as best he could at the warlord's head. Seeing how the warlord was jogging, Bucky quickly changed his aim and fired at the man's frost covered legs. Most of the bullets simply tore holes in the man's frost covered pants or flew away, but then Bucky readjusted his aim and sent a bullet into the man's buttocks. Invincible or no, that _had_ to be uncomfortable.

The warlord agreed as he abruptly stopped his charge and started to turn back to Buck as he used his left had to reach down to his pants. Before his hand could get far there was another distinctive crack and the warlord clutched his eye, screaming in pain. As he staggered back another crack rang out and Bucky saw blood start to spurt from a shallow cut on the man's neck at his jugular artery.

The warlord staggered several more steps before collapsing, dead.

After that the gunfire died out, and about a minute later Bucky saw the fourth member of their SET team make his way out of the undergrowth. The Apache man walked towards Bucky with a sniper rifle almost as long as he was tall held in his hands so that it didn't catch on overhead branches. "You alright, Winter Soldier?" Thunderbird called out as his eyes continued to sweep the area.

"Just got busted up, my head almost crushed and my spine broken," Bucky replied.

"Nothing important then," Thunderbird commented before using his radio. "This is Thunderbird, all hostile neutralized at the front of the convoy. Over."

A moment later, the radio crackled with Warlock's thrumming voice. "This is Warlock, we've taken down their 'demon' and are cleaning up now. Captain says to secure the area before we move out. Over."

"Thunderbird here, copy that. Over." He looked back at Bucky. "You heard the Cap, so stop lying about."

Bucky mock glared back at his teammate as his body slowly regenerated. "Shove it, Thunderpants."

+NF: AoC+

Alexandria walked into the conference room with Hero, Legend and Eidolon behind her. Already seated were Doctors Erskine, Manton, Banner and Haywire, Director Fury, Agent Coulson, General Phillips, Lieutenant Colonel Rogers, aka Captain America, and Contessa; the major figures of their effort to save the world from the Entities and the Agents the give out powers. She took her seat next to Doctor Banner and the other three similarly found their own seats.

At Director Fury's raised eyebrow Alexandria explained. "Hero's danger room took longer than expected."

Hero shrugged inside his red and gold power armor. "What can I say? I'm awesome at what I do."

Director Fury gave him a meaningful glance before asking, "How did your suits work out?"

"Eidolon's power armor worked just like we expected," Hero said, "Doctor Haywire does good work."

"Thank you," the interdimensional super genius replied with a nod.

"And Legend's suit is working like we expected," Hero continued. "The force field should be enough to protect small groups from small arms fire."

"Good," Director Fury said. He turned to Doctor Haywire. "How is your project coming along?"

Doctor Haywire shrugged. "The interdimensional cannon isn't where I want it to be, but I'm making progress. Setting up the portals and teleporters is taking up my time I'm afraid. "

"Understandable," Director Fury stated. "We need that infrastructure now, and we have time to wait for the rest."

"Logistics, training and central command are essential for any army," General Phillips added.

"This isn't the path to the largest army," Contessa argued.

"I know girl, but think for a moment," General Phillips told her. "Despite our failures in Vietnam, we've still got the best military in the world, and that's because we've invested so much in the training and provision of our military. The Soviets would tell you that quantity has a quality all its own, but they still have a clear command structure. If we're to win this war we need every advantage we can get, and against something as powerful as Goldie we need more than just bodies to throw on the fire." He gestured to Doctor Haywire and the others. "That's why their work is so important, everything we can learn and exploit about powers furthers our edge against him, and if our methods or research is actually going to be effective you can't see that. That's why, as painful as it may be for you, we can't just rely on what your power says is best."

She reluctantly nodded.

"Your assistance is still invaluable, but it'll have to be to assist us achieve goals that aren't directly to fighting him," General Phillips continued reassuringly. "Your work to make sure that SHIELD, the Protectorate and our allies' ventures work is invaluable."

Contessa nodded.

Director Fury looked to Doctor Erskine, who spoke up. "I'm afraid we haven't made much progress improving the rates of monstrous mutations from the formulas, but we have identified one that is likely to be a very powerful one related to communication and information." He tapped a folder in front of him. "We've compiled a list of candidates for the formula, but I'd like to say right now that we believe the best candidate would be one Charles Xavier. His knowledge of biology and genetics would be an invaluable assistance to us in he was brought in and a power related to information would be incredibly useful in our research if he didn't have any Agent induced memory blocks, which sharing our own research with him beforehand should help overcome."

Director Fury looked to Contessa, who nodded and said, "He will be a good addition."

Director Fury nodded and agreed. "Very well then, get an introduction package ready and see about bringing him in. Hopefully this information power will give us insight we need. If not, then we'll have another parahuman on our side." He looked around the room. "Anything else pressing?" When no one else spoke up he nodded and glanced at the papers in front of him. "Very well, then lets discuss the next stage of our public super hero team."

At that Alexandria spoke up. "Doctor Banner has volunteered to lend his powers to the Protectorate, raising the number of members to five." Doctor Banner nodded at this. "However, we have yet to make a public reveal. I believe that it would be best if we make ourselves known as heroes before officially joining the government. That way people will see us as legitimate heroes instead of supers that the DoJ or whoever the Protectorate ends up under roped into joining the government."

"Also, it'll give us a chance to kick ass without filling out paperwork afterwards," Hero added. Alexandria shot him a half-serious glare and he just laughed.

"It will have a positive effect on the long term power of the Protectorate according to my power," Contessa said.

"Good to hear," Director Fury said. He looked at Doctor Banner and asked him, "Your power grows when you're angry. Are you sure you can work with them as a team?"

"Yes, sir." Doctor Banner nodded. "I have no doubt that if I do get out of control Eidolon and Contessa can handle it."

"Good," Director Fury said, "continue."

"We have several potential targets in mind, including a teleporting thief who operates along the east coast and a biker gang run by some kind of speedster who just ransacked a Midwestern town."

"I'll have SHIELD send over files on potential SET targets within the US," Lieutenant Colonel Rogers told her. "There are a few that you might want to look at."

"Thank you," Alexandria told him. She spoke to Director Fury and the rest of the room again, "We want to train some more on working together, and would appreciate Contessa's help in making sure the operation goes smoothly."

"After our last mission, we want to make sure things go right," Eidolon confirmed.

"Good, let me know when you're ready," Director Fury told them.

+NF: AoC+

"So, you want to be a super hero?" Agent Coulson asked Annette.

"Yes, sir," she replied. "Fortuna said you knew how to make that happen."

Holding back a sigh, he replied, "Yes, but that's supposed to be a secret." He finished by given Fortuna and Hannah meaningful looks. They had the decency to look embarrassed. He looked hard at Fortuna and asked her, "Are you using your power to make your friend a super hero?"

She sheepishly shrugged.

Phil Coulson chuckled. "I'll tell Fury. We'll be the ones picking her formula."

Fortuna and Annette jumped in excitement. "Yes!" Annette cried out as Hannah broke out in a grin.

"We were looking for sidekicks anyway," Coulson murmured as he watched the excited children with a smile.

+NF: AoC+

Nick Fury was sitting at his desk and looking over the omnipresent paperwork when the door to his office slammed open. Acting on instinct, he already had a gun in hand underneath his desk before the intruder took more than a step into the office.

It was Major America, in his armored dark blue military style costume with its outline of a five pointed star in the center of his chest. He had his helmet clenched tightly in his left hand and his Aryan face was set in an angry glare as he marched up to Nick Fury's desk.

Quietly putting his pistol back in its hidden holster, Nick Fury sat forward with his chin resting on his clasped hands and his elbows on the desk. He silently raised an eyebrow.

Steven Rogers replied by slamming down onto the desk the newspaper that he had been holding in his right hand.

Director Fury looked at the headline, his brows unconsciously furrowing slightly. It read: "Slaughterhouse 9 Literally Decimate Cairo, MI!" He looked back up at Lieutenant Colonel Steven Rogers.

The colonel glared back at him. "This is utterly unacceptable, Director. I don't care how helpful their powers could be to our army against It. They're killing innocent people right now, and they're doing more harm than good. If we let this stand, then they're going to set an example, show other parahumans that they can get away with this sort of thing, and we can't allow that to happen.

"If the Slaughterhouse is allowed to get away with this, then we're going to be seeing other villains who look at them and realize that it they're big enough and mean enough then they can ignore the law and society and what is right. We have to stop this and make sure that no one else thinks they can get away with killing civilians."

Nick Fury kept a level gaze at his subordinate and calmly asked, "Why did you come to me with this? Our official program has military capes like you and Winter Soldier, not to mention the fact that General Phillips would be more than happy to lend you some of his boys. I put you in charge of SHIELD's capes for a reason, as I recall."

Captain America reluctantly nodded, before continuing, "I know, but the National Guard has already clashed with them and apparently their leader, King, has some way of having other people die in his place or something, not to mention the rest of group. Right now any confrontation with them will result in unacceptable collateral damage. I need Contessa."

Nick Fury leaned back in his chair and watched Captain America thoughtfully. He let the silence drag out for several long seconds before replying. "Okay. Get together Contessa and the others. I want a plan of attack on my desk by the end of the day."

"Yes, sir!" Captain America said, saluting sharply, before turning and leaving.

+NF: AoC+

"So, game plan?" Tony asked as they all sat down on couches and seats arranged around a table covered in documents on pictures on one subject: the Slaughterhouse Nine.

"Contessa can help us get them away from any hostages, but even so it's King that's our biggest problem in that regard," Rebecca, sitting next to Tony on a navy blue couch, said as her eyes swept the reports. "We need to find a way to take him down without triggering his ability to pass injuries to others. Given his strength there's a possibility that any protracted battle could force us to use force against him that will be lethal to the people he's used his power on."

"Maybe we could make something to immobilize him," Bruce suggested.

"That could work," Tony agreed as his gaze drifted off and his mind focused on possible schematics.

"If you could think of something we could easily capture capes with that would be very useful," James said.

"What if he manages to hurt himself while detained out of spite?" David asked as he leaned forward. "I can call up several power cancelling powers, so I can shut him down."

"Excellent, that's one problem down, but how does it work?" Rebecca asked.

David concentrated. "I think they work by either shutting down the powers of people I touch, blast or are within a certain distance of me. They all probably wear off."

"Then you'll have to get close and shut him down," Rebecca replied. "We'll coordinate with SHIELD, so we can hand them over to people without powers who we can trust to make sure he doesn't get a chance to use his power to hurt any civilians. Fortuna can help with that afterwards."

"These guys are slippery, so you'll probably have to pull out your area version," Tony told Eidolon. "That means that you'll have to face King and whoever else he ends up without powered support. I could come, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to use my suit as effectively without the innate knowledge my power gives me."

"If you're not sure how well you can use your suit without your power, you shouldn't do it," Rebecca warned him.

Tony nodded. "Yeah, but he can pull out his power and we can practice, or I can land and then he can use it or something. I'm game." He looked at Rebecca, who clearly wasn't happy with the idea. "Don't worry Becky, I'll be fine. David's got my back, right?"

"I won't let them hurt you, Tony," David solemnly agreed. "Well," he corrected after a moment, "I might, if I think they might knock some sense into your skull."

"Thanks for that, buddy," Tony told him as an annoyed Rebecca lightly slapped David's knee.

"That just leaves the leftovers for the rest of us," Bruce said before their tangent got any farther.

"Yes," Rebecca agreed seriously as the door opened and Fortuna walked in with Hannah. Rebecca waved the two over. "Fortuna, who will the three of us not fighting King face?"

+NF: AoC+

[I suggest playing "Shoot to Thrill" by AC/DC]

Music started echoing across the sky, and King looked up, frowning at what he saw. It looked like a red and gold rocket flying right towards them, albeit much slower than a rocket normally would. A moment later he realized that it was a person propelled by rockets when he saw a blue caped figure wearing what looked like a glowing green mask flying alongside the red and gold one. He would have tensed, but he wasn't terribly concerned about his own health, in fact he was eager for the fight that the rocket promised was coming.

Suddenly the rocket man crashed into the ground in front of the three of them, landing in a crouch on cracked asphalt while the blue-robed one floated in the air behind and above him.

"What do we have here?" King asked as the man stood up and the blue-robed one drifted down beside him.

"Occupational Safety and Health Administration," the armored man replied, "and I'm afraid that we're going to have shut this Slaughterhouse down."

King rolled his shoulders and smirked. "I'm going to have to contest that decision." He charged forward while Harbinger and Jack Slash made their own moves. King saw the sparks flash against the rocket man's armor as Jack Slash lashed out with his knives.

The man held up his palms at Harbinger and sent out blasts of energy from the palm sized jets on them, but Harbinger was able to dodge out of the way of the blasts. The blue-robed cape pointed at Jack Slash and sent out a laser beam, but he jumped out of the way and began running off. This concerned King, but he was certain that there was nothing either of these heroes could do to him. Even when the armored hero fired at him, King barely staggered.

Then the man shouted. "Do it now!" And then King felt it, his sympathetic connections not just cut, but completely gone. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Harbinger stagger and get knocked over by one of the robed hero's laser blasts. The armored hero looked King in the eye and told him, "King, you've just been condemned."

King charged, knowing that he couldn't hope to get away from them either way, but he couldn't dodge the blast from the man's hand jets. Both of them hit the ground and King rolled to his feet, knowing that he needed to get away, but knowing that he couldn't. He saw armored hero get up on his knees and aim at him with one gauntleted hand with the other holding the bulky forearm guard.

Letting out a roar, King charged, ignoring the stinging pain of a dart hitting him. He bulled forwards even when one of the hero's blasts broke some of his ribs. It didn't matter, he wouldn't let them just take him down.

A flash of light and his feet were knocked out from under him. He hit the ground hard. He wanted to get up, needed to get up, but he was so tired….

+NF: AoC+

Jack Slash knew he was in trouble. The heroes had planned this, they had known about his plans somehow and had ambushed the three of them. He needed to get away. As much as he wanted to keep the Slaughterhouse Nine, he knew that there was no chance that the heroes didn't also have someone else attacking the others. On the other hand, if he met up with them, maybe they could escape this trap.

No, he needed to get away, go to ground. He could start the Slaughterhouse again later if he wanted to. He continued running past trees and a farmhouse.

Then he stopped as some sixth sense twinged, alerting him to danger. He ducked and spun, already slashing with his knife, but it was too late. His brain didn't even have time to process the sound of the gunshot.

Contessa stood a short distance away from the villain's corpse as the secured the area through the portal that Doctor Haywire had opened. As they moved to make sure that Jack Slash was indeed dead, Fortuna let the gun slip from her shaking hands.

After a moment to compose herself, she used her power and radioed Eidolon and Hero. She spoke with her voice calm and level, "Jack Slash has been neutralized, but we need Harbinger, over."

"Understood, Contessa." Hero replied. "You okay? Over."

"I'm fine. Over."

+NF: AoC+

Captain America walked over to the camera crew for the local news station. The combined SHIELD, Protectorate and National Guard assets were in the process of cleaning up the aftermath of taking down the rest of the Slaughterhouse Nine. The National Guard was supposed to keep reporters away from things, but it seemed they were overawed by being in the presence of a genuine Hero and letting things slip.

He walked over to here Hero boasting to the cameras and the National Guard. "I made this myself and it can fly at over Mach 3." He leaned closer to the female reporter. "I'd show you, but I think Alexandria might get jealous."

"Hero," Captain America said as he made his way over.

Hero gestured to him. "And here is yet another Genuine American Hero, or as I like to call it, GAH!"

Captain America waved at the camera. "Making a good impression?" he asked Hero.

"I'm a Hero, how could I not?"

Captain America's estimation of the reporter rose when he saw she resisted the urge to groan at the pun. She turned to him, held her microphone towards him and asked, "So are you one of the military super heroes that Hero has told us about."

Captain America shot Hero a glare and nodded. "Yes, when people started getting super powers, I was one of the first in the military to do so and as such have dedicated myself to executing my duty to protect this great nation to my fullest with these abilities I now have. That's why we're here, to protect America from monsters like the Slaughterhouse Nine." He gestured to Hero. "He and his companions belong to an independent he team that is currently in negotiations to form a civil organization to protect civilians, powered or unpowered from criminals and villains. Hero himself has expressed personal interest in providing a safe environment for powered children to learn to use their newfound abilities responsibly."

She turned back to Hero and asked, "You want to start a sidekick program?"

"Uh, no, we want to give them a chance to use their powers responsibly, but that doesn't mean taking them out into the streets, and certainly not something like this. It's just that we want to make sure that they don't accidently hurt themselves or others if they feel compelled to go out and use their powers like adult heroes. I'm sure you're aware that any teenager that wants to get out can, especially if they have powers."

"Do you have persona experience with that?" the reporter asked.

"From the side of the teen, yes," Hero happily admitted. "But then again, don't we all?"

The reporter smiled. "I suppose so, but we've heard rumors that you are in fact Tony Stark, playboy billionaire and entrepreneur. Aren't you worried about how that image will look to parents considering this program?"

Hero nodded and his with a tap to his helmet his face plate opened. "It's true, I am Tony Stark. However, I know my limits and do my best to act as responsibly as the situation calls for. When I'm working to save lives and make the world a better place, or otherwise doing one job of the other? Definitely. When I'm not working? It's important to be able to kick back and have fun, otherwise you just end up a messed up ball of stress. My lifestyle isn't for everyone, and I don't encourage anyone to try it until they are already a responsible adult. However, we believe that different people need and want different things, so our aim is to encourage a responsible and healthy lifestyle that fits the individual."

Captain America was momentarily taken aback by Tony's little speech, before he recovered with the name '_Contessa_' running through his mind.

"You'd call your partying responsible?" she asked again in surprise.

Tony Stark nodded decisively. "Of course, I have never endorsed reckless activity such as underage drinking or doing illegal drugs. However, I am a proud American and believe that people have the right to make their own legitimate choices when the opportunity arises, so long as it doesn't endanger others. Anyway, this isn't just about me, I may be the Hero of this occasion, but there are others who were responsible to saving lives and stopping these villains." Tony Stark gestured to the Captain. "One shining example is Captain America here, but there's also the rest of the Protectorate and the brave soldiers who laid their lives on the line beside us. Don't forget they deserve credit too."

"Thank you for saying that, Hero," Captain America said. "I'm glad you got a chance to get the word out, but I was wondering if you could come with me to look at your Tinker tech restraints."

"Sure thing," Hero agreed amicably and closed his face plate before turning back to the reporter and the cameraman and waving. "Good bye, I should check on the restraints like he asked. It's not perfect but we need to make sure that they get there day on court if possible. This is America after all."

"Of course, thank you for the interview," the reporter before Captain America and Hero made their way back into the cordoned off area.

Captain looked at Hero. "Contessa sure does some good work."

Hero scoffed behind his helmet. "I run an international corporation. I know how to talk to the press."

"Uh huh. And if I asked her?"

Hero grunted. "Super genius here, even before I got super powers I was one of the smartest people, in fact _the smartest_, if I may say so, in America."

"I never said otherwise," Captain America assured him.

"Uh huh. For a guy with a secret identity who does top secret missions, you're a terrible liar."

+NF: AoC+

Phil Coulson walked across the forest clearing to where Fortuna sat on a rock beside the creak. They were in the forest of a world where humanity had not made it to the Americas, or at least had not survived there, for one reason or another. While there were some questions on the ethics of using a world with humans in it, the importance of their mission, the fact that this Earth's humanity wasn't using it, and the fact that it was one of the first worlds connected too with the handful of portals that had constructed meant that it would likely see extensive use by Cauldron and its more covert official branch, SHIELD. About a mile away, personnel were working alongside some of Tony Stark's robots to build an addition to the base that had already been set up.

Fortuna herself was quietly watching the river flow by, unmoving even as she heard Coulson approach.

Phil sat down beside her and let the relative quiet return. Water gurgled and sounds of distant construction carried through the forest. They sat together in comfortable silence for minutes uncounted.

Finally Fortuna spoke. "I had to kill him."

Coulson looked at her out of the corner of his eye but let her speak at her own pace.

"It was the path to saving as many lives from them as possible. If I hadn't he'd have killed one of the soldiers."

Coulson put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's hard, but you did the right thing. Things like this never really leave you, but it can get better, eventually."

She nodded, looking down at the water flowing by beneath her feet. "Why did I have to kill him?" she asked eventually. "Harbinger said that they were forced to join by King. Shouldn't there have been a way to stop him from killing people that didn't involve kill him?"

Coulson sighed. "I don't know. Your path has limits on what it can see, maybe Eidolon could have done something, or we could have made Goldie" –Tony's nickname that had stuck – "stop them like the hero he's pretending to be, maybe your power just finds _a _path that works and not the best path or it doesn't understand or care what you mean by _best_, I don't know. What I do know is that sometimes you can't avoid doing or experiencing bad things, things that leave a mark on you that sticks with you the rest of your life. Its unavoidable, Fortuna, and after its over you all you can do is make the best of it that you can."

They sat in silence for a time, Fortuna leaning slightly into his hand.

"I choose to use Contessa because Steve said all super heroes use different names," Fortuna said after a while, "but if I have to do things like this…can I ever go back to using the name my parents gave me?"

Coulson leaned over so he could see her face. "

Coulson leaned over so he could see her face. "You can't do everything perfect, even with your power," he told her, "but even so you saved lives. Maybe there was a better way, but of all of the possibilities that you've considered, can you be sure they would work?"

She shook her head reluctantly.

"Then you did the best you could with what you knew at the time," Coulson told her. "Sometimes you have to kill the bad guy, but regretting the necessity is the mark of a good person." He squeezed her shoulder slightly in reassurance. "I think your parents would be proud of everything you've done, Fortuna."

Fortuna looked up at him and sniffled. "Thank you," she said and hugged him.

"Any time, Fortuna," Coulson said, patting her on the back.

+NF: AoC+

Charles Xavier leaned back in his seat, looking up from the papers before him. He had not been sure to expect on this trip to a high security military base at the request of a colleague, but it had most certainly not been this, or at least, not exactly this. He had in fact harbored some suspicions that he might have been called in by Abraham Erskine to work on such a project given his specialty, but the specifics after he had signed the nondisclosure agreements had been something else altogether. He looked up at the other side of the table, where Abraham sat with his colleagues Bruce Banner, William Manton and Tony Stark and two near identical men and a blue furred ape-like person that all went by the name Hank McCoy.

"This is a lot to take in," Charles Xavier finally said.

"I understand," Abraham told him. "Just because you singed the nondisclosure agreement means we expect you to work with us, you're free to leave if you want too."

Charles held up a hand. "After everything that you've just told and shown me, I just need some time to process it. I can say now though, that there's no doubt in my mind that I'll help you however I can. The world is quite literally at stake, and many more besides." Charles looked over at Hank's third, mutated self. "I don't know if I want to take the risk of the formula though."

Tony Stark nodded in agreement. "It's a risk alright but don't worry. All of the reckless risks are volunteer only." He was much more solemn than Charles had expected given his reputation prior to his reveal as a super hero.

"We know that the memory blocks don't remove or prevent access to preexisting information," William Manton said, "but we are concerned that they might prevent the learning of new information later, especially through the power us. We brought you in because regardless of your decision, ultimately you'll be very useful to our organization."

Bruce Banner nodded. "Yes, with or without your power you could be a great help to us. In fact, given your education experience you might be able to continue what you've already been doing with or without your power. You've heard of the Protectorate's initiative for young parahumans, right?"

"You're planning on opening a school for them?" Charles asked, curiously. "I was under the impression that you were planning some sort of sidekick program."

"We parahumans are driven to use our powers often, especially in conflict," Bruce explained, "but we still need to make sure that the children that our program is responsible for have a good education and are trained to use their power responsibly."

"Spending most of their time in the program following people like me around isn't exactly conducive to that," Tony Stark added with a shrug. "You're an educator used to drunk college students and fraternities, and you're another egghead for our research into Agents and how they work as well as research into reproducing biological Tinkertech and the like."

"If you're expecting someone capable of handling a super powered Animal House, I'm afraid you've got the wrong person," Charles told him with a smile, "but I'll see what I can do to help out with the program." He frowned in thought for a moment. "In fact, it might be wise for me not to take one of these vials for the time being if it will make me more inclined to conflict. You don't need that in a leadership position."

"That's what I said," Tony agreed, "but Fury didn't listen to me."

"He said he'd likely lead a super hero team at some point," Bruce explained to Charles, "though I have to agree with Tony here. That decision seems flawed." Bruce ended that with a meaningful look at Tony.

"Thanks for backing me up," Tony said. "Hey, wait a sec! What are you implying?"

"Nothing you haven't said for yourself," Bruce replied calmly.

+NF: AoC+

Nick Fury strode through the hallways of the new Protectorate building. It was currently under construction, but he could already see the future taking shape around him. SHIELD was the international branch associated with the military, striking down threats to civilization while building the Tinker tools and making the preparation necessary to fight the Entity on equal terms. The Protectorate would be the 'civilian' arm, working to keep society together in the no doubt turbulent times that would result as capes became more and more common. Frankly, they were lucky that in America only the Slaughterhouse Nine had made themselves known thus far. All of the other criminal capes were keeping a low profile for now, but it was only a matter of time before they became larger threats.

He could see it now in his mind's eye: without a unified organization to keep parahumans in check, they would tear society apart. That was the cause of the Protectorate: to make sure that even in an age of super powers, America and the world would be ready.

He passed several workers and nodded to them. They returned his nods before continuing with the construction efforts.

Eventually he reached his destination, an unfinished conference room which opened onto the DC cityscape. Gathered in costume and looking out across it were the four he had called here. Alexandria stood at the edge of the tarp walled room with her hands clasped behind her back as she looked out across the city. Legend leaned against a nearby wall, but stood straight upon seeing Fury. Eidolon had been standing straight already, but managed to stand straighter as his blue and green powered armor glowed beneath his hooded cloak. Hero in his red and gold armor sat on a stack of unused tiles with his feet propped on a toolbox. Hulk was leaning against another wall and doing the morning newspaper's crossword puzzle while wearing a pair of custom-made purple sweats, a cheap green t-shirt and a matching custom-made stretching baklava. Nick Fury let himself smile slightly in anticipation, causing Hero to stand up and back away slightly as Eidolon, Hulk and Legend tensed slightly.

"Do you know why I've brought you here?" Nick Fury asked rhetorically. "It's to build a future. That's our purpose, our mission. Society has been built upon the idea that the group is stronger than the individual, and while that is still the case it is no longer as strong a case as it once was due to powers. We have the chance to prepare ourselves, to head off the coming storm before it hits, but to do that we need more than just you four." He swept his gaze at each of them. "The future is the place of our children, that's why we value it, and that's why we're doing this."

"Of course, sir," Legend said, "but why did we need to gather here for this?"

Nick Fury let his smile come back as he turned his head to look at Hero. "You will all personally help build that future in the best way possible."

He let his smile grow slightly when he heard Hero's muttered "Oh no."

"That's why we're implementing the Wards program as proposed by Alexandria and Doctor Xavier," Fury finished as Coulson led the future Wards into the room.

Alexandria turned around and nodded sharply. "We'll all be helping guide these young parahumans to their fullest potential as heroes." Hero started to raise his hand. "ALL of us."

"What? I'm a terrible influence!" Hero objected. "I drink and swear _a lot_, am I really the kind of guy you want mentoring young heroes. Why not give them to the Captain, he's great with kinds?"

"Are you really the kind of man that wants a helicarrier?" Nick Fury asked.

"You wouldn't."

"I would."

"We have a helicarrier?" a girl with an armored costume and a helmet with mouse ears asked excitedly.

"We're making the _best_ helicarrier," Hero replied, "it's going to be invisible and fly and have a fully stocked liquor cabinet and everything. It's even going to have its own interdimensional portal and a spinal laser cannon."

"This. Is. The. Best!" she cried out. "Being a hero is going to be awesome!"

+NF: AoC+

Tony Stark sat down heavily next to William Manton in the main Cauldron base's lounge. Tony swirled the glass of brandy in his hand and shook his head.

"How was Washington?" William asked Tony.

"Interesting," Tony replied. "Powers are weird," he added after some thought.

"Oh?" William prompted.

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking: 'Of course powers are weird, you can built interdimensional portals and plasma guns and Legend can shoot honest to god freeze rays,'" Tony said, imitating William's voice, "but this takes the cake in my opinion."

"Now I have to know," William said.

"One of our new Wards, uses the cape name Dagger, has the power to create daggers made out of light," Tony explained.

"Seems tame compared to 'freeze rays,'" William snarked.

"That's not all!" Tony informed him. "She can use those daggers for all sorts of things –"

"Like stabbing people?"

Tony gave him a disapproving look. "As a matter of fact yes, but that's not all," he said and continued before he could be interrupted, "She literally stabs the sickness out of people."

"What?" asked William, nonplussed.

"That's what I said," Tony agreed. "I mean, that just defies everything we thought we understood about how Entities operate. Why would they give someone a power that gives weapons which _heals_ people when you use them? It makes no sense."

"She can't hurt people with them?" William asked skeptically.

"Well, yeah, she controls whether it's hard or heal mode," Tony clarified. "It's just strange. Really strange. And that's not even getting into 'Spider Man' or the werewolf. I guess it just never hit home how weird super powers really are in real life."

"I'll drink to that," William agreed and they both clinked their glasses and did just that.

+NF: AoC+

End Word

For those of you wonder what mission failure Eidolon was referring too, it was the off screen one that led to Nick Fury chewing out the Four in scene 1.12. The scenes are numbered on my threads on Space Battles and Sufficient Velocity. Feel free to look there and add or suggest your own scenes in either thread. I will include links in my profile page here on .

I'm pretty sure I got the main points of their characterizations more or less down. Or at least for the Marvel characters, the characterizations I'm using.

Protectorate: Legend (William Kaplan), Alexandria (Rebecca), Eidolon (David), Hero (Tony Stark), Hulk (Bruce Banner),…

Initial Wards: Cloak and Dagger, Spider Man, Wolfsbane, Jubilee, Chevalier, Mouse Protector,…

SHIELD: Captain America, Winter Soldier, Warlock, Thunderbird,…

+NF: AoC+


End file.
